Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 163.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,862 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,568 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after acquiring an additional 242,442 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after acquiring an additional 243,201 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after buying an additional 215,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,772,000 after buying an additional 54,096 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

MO stock opened at $51.05 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.13. The stock has a market cap of $87.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.99%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.